FAYETTEVILLE — If football is played, Notre Dame plans to limit the number of fans who can attend its home games this year, including the home opener against Arkansas on Sept. 12.
Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday that officials will "work real hard to create some space between our fans" this fall. Swarbrick cautioned that larger university issues must be addressed before the Fighting Irish's teams can return to play, but said games would not be played in an empty stadium.
“We haven’t gotten to the question of how big that audience is,” Swarbrick said during an interview for an alumni fundraising drive that was shown on the ND Loyal YouTube channel. “We won’t be at capacity; we’ll be at something less than that. We’ll be very careful about maintaining social distance, how the facility works, how you enter it, how you exit it - all things to be determined, but we’re working hard on them.”
Swarbrick said Notre Dame is “committed to having fans in the stands” this season, beginning with students.
“My view throughout has been if we think it’s safe for students to be on the field playing football, it should be safe for the students to be in the stands watching football,” Swarbrick said. “So we’ll build off that base of the other students. Faculty and staff will be a priority for us, to give them an opportunity, and then our fans."
Swarbrick said he is monitoring NFL discussions, noting professional football teams are “a little further down the road” in their decision making.
Notre Dame Stadium has a listed capacity of 80,795 and the Fighting Irish are among the nation’s best in filling a home stadium. Last season Notre Dame had a streak of 273 consecutive sellouts snapped.
According to NCAA figures, the Fighting Irish had 94.4 percent capacity for seven home games in 2019.
Kevin Trainor, a spokesman for the Razorbacks, said in an email Wednesday that Notre Dame has not contacted Arkansas in relation to any ticketing changes. According to the game contract signed in 2017, Notre Dame would have to provide up to 7,500 tickets in designated visitor sections for the game.
Games at the 90-year-old Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., are popular destinations for fans of opposing teams, and that was expected to be the case for Arkansas fans this year. The Razorbacks have never played the Fighting Irish and have never played a game in the state of Indiana.
This year’s game is scheduled to be the first of two between the programs. Notre Dame is scheduled to play in Fayetteville in October 2025.